Saturday, February 16 2019 16:04

ArmInfo. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met with Minister of State for European and American Affairs of the United Kingdom, Alan Duncan, on the  margins of the Munich Security Council.

During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of cooperation in  bilateral and multilateral formats, expressing readiness to intensify  cooperation in all areas. Mnatsakanyan presented to his counterpart  internal political processes in Armenia, stressed the commitment of  the new government to continue reforms in various areas, and in this  regard, he highly appreciated the continued assistance of Great  Britain.  Speaking about the priorities of the government, he pointed  out the issues of stimulating the economy based on information  technology, as well as the sector of innovation and creative  education. He expressed confidence that joint efforts in this  direction will open up new prospects for cooperation.   ZohrabMnatsakanyan and Alan Duncan exchanged views on international  and regional issues.

At the request of Alan Duncan, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan presented  Armenia's approaches to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict, stressing the importance of creating an environment  conducive to peace and the need to refrain from steps aimed at  escalation and aggressive rhetoric.

On the same day, Mnatsakanyan met with Diplomatic Adviser to the  President of France Philippe Etienne. The parties exchanged views on  the expansion of Armenian-French relations and enriching the agenda  of multi-vector bilateral cooperation. In this context, they highly  appreciated the bilateral political dialogue, noting with  satisfaction that it is distinguished by regular contacts and  reciprocal high-level visits. Speaking about the Armenia-EU  relations, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Philippe Etienne noted the  importance of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement ,  which opens up new opportunities for the development of cooperation  with the EU countries.

 Touching on the Karabakh settlement, Mnatsakanyan reaffirmed  Armenia's commitment to an exclusively peaceful solution of the  problem under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs,  stressing the importance of France's efforts together with the other  OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs - Russia and the United States.  Mnatsakanyan also held a meeting with chairman of the US Senate  Foreign Relations Committee, Bob  Menendez. The parties discussed a  number of issues related to the Armenian- American partnership,  stressing the importance of the role of the Armenian community in  this context. By presenting at the request of the interlocutor, the  recent domestic political events in Armenia and the reform process  under the leadership of the government, the Foreign Minister stressed  that the priority is to ensure economic development based on high  technologies and innovative progress.  Mnatsakanyan discussed issues  on the bilateral agenda with his counterpart from Oman Yusuf bin  Alawi bin Abdullah .  The parties noted with satisfaction the  effective multi-sectoral cooperation, which makes it possible to use  all the existing potential. The focus was on cooperation in the trade  and economic sector. Zohrabyan, referring to the political processes  in Armenia, stated the country's readiness to continue the initiated  reforms and the economic revolution. The parties stressed the  importance of enhancing cooperation in the economic sector and  tourism. The interlocutor was also presented the position of Armenia  on the Karabakh settlement.